Out of Ashes, We Rise Anew
by anneikenskywalker
Summary: Season 7-What if there had been one more day between when Angel left Buffy in the cemetery to return to L.A. and the final battle? What if Angel had been attacked by The First and now lay close to 'death? What if the only person who could save him was someone from Spike and Angel's past? Someone Spike once loved and had to give up... Spike/Buffy/Angel/ BTVS cast
1. Chapter 1

Buffy hurdled effortlessly over a row of tomb stones in the Sunnydale graveyard to check her reflexes.

As she side kicked and somersaulted, landing beyond the tallest one, she rolled back on the bottoms of her feet and stretched out her arms.

She looked down at her purple and black Armitron watch as it passed under her chin.

7:14 pm.

_Where the hell could they be? _she thought to herself, _ It's not like Giles to be late. _

Buffy had left on patrol early that night right after she got home from work—mostly to escape the the crazy teenage girls that seemed to be over-running her house as of late, but more to avoid awkward encounters with Spike.

It seemed the closer they got in proximity, the more she started getting that tingly sensation in the pit of her stomach. The last time she felt that, she had kissed him and then more…_much more_… and right now, with the original evil on the loose and their deaths eminent, it didn't seem like a wise idea to start up old romances.

As pathetic as it seemed, slaying had become her only opportunity to get away and clear her mind, though these days she was no longer alone when doing it.

With the bringers strolling about town free-range, some of the Scoobies had been accompanying her for back-up while the others stayed at the house to look after the never ending surge of Potentials.

This week's rotation meant that Giles and Spike were joining her.

_That_ should be interesting.

Just a few weeks prior, Giles had tried to kill Spike off, supposedly for the "greater good" or something like that.

While Spike's chip had been removed and his trigger de activated, it seems Giles wasn't willing to trust Buffy's judgment that, with his new soul, Spike was no longer a danger to anyone.

Ever since then, things had been on shaky terms.

Not so much between Spike and Giles, but between Buffy and Giles.

Giles didn't seem to understand how much she needed Spike with her and he probably never would.

Even Spike didn't know just how much she truly _did_ care for him.

Number one drawback of being a slayer—laying your feelings out on the table isn't always an option _or_ very simple to do.

Buffy pulled her blue jean jacket tighter around her shoulders and folded her arms across her chest as she looked around, listening for expected and NOT expected company.

The graveyard was pretty quiet, tonight.

It had been like that for a few months now.

Not too many ooglie booglies roaming about, at least not since most of their food source decided to skip town with the coming apocalypse.

In total that week she had slayed two vampires and two bringers on patrol—that was it.

Pretty weak numbers, yes, but that did give her more time to think as she walked around town.

And it _was_ rather nice—less slaying and more walking and thinking, even a little daydreaming.

However, that would have to wait.

A loud scream coming from the direction of downtown, suddenly drew her attention and she broke off in a dead sprint and out through the graveyard entrance.

# # # # # #

As she flew around the far corner of Forsythe Street in the center of town, following the noise to a narrow alley behind the discount liquor store, she saw a familiar sight—Spike in his black leather trench coat vamped out and fighting probably the tallest demon she had ever seen.

Its eyes were dark red and it skin black with patches of glowing tinge. It looked like a cross between a dragon and a deformed wrestler and was well over ten feet tall.

As Buffy gawked at the sight, she heard a familiar voice call her name from far corner of the alley.

Buffy recognized the voice as Giles' even before she saw his tweed clad arm vigorously beckon her to his side and to whatever had his attention on the other side of one of the large dumpsters a few feet away from the fighting.

Buffy looked to Spike—he seemed to be holding his own, dodging fireballs that the demon seemed to be shooting at him from his mouth with the lid of a medal trash can as his shield—then she looked back to Giles.

Suddenly, she didn't know which way to go.

_Great._

Well, Giles was safe behind the dumpster for the time being, doing whatever it seemed that he was doing instead of helping Spike.

Suddenly, her choice was made.

"Crap…" Buffy sighed, knowing she would probably hear an earful from Giles about why she didn't let the fiery demon kill her vampire ex-boyfriend, then quickly ran in the direction of the vampire/demon showdown.

As Buffy came to Spike's side, she picked up her own metal lid shield off of one of the nearby trash cans just in time to cover her face from a large explosion of orange fire that was sent intentionally in her direction.

"Well, Well…" Spike smirked, his face returning to normal, as he teased her, "Nice of you to show up. Hear the screams did we?"

"Yep." Buffy smiled, then swept behind Spike, whispering in his ear as she moved, "Keep him distracted, I've got an idea."

"Oh, you've got an idea on how to take down a ten foot, fire-breathing, Lord of the Rings monster, do you?"

Buffy grabbed Spike by the back of his shoulders, gently moving him with her, fusing their bodies a one to make them look like one entity, keeping herself invisible to the beast, as they circled it to the end of the alley.

When she was confident they were in the creatures' blind spot, she ran from her position behind Spike to one of the old brick factory buildings at the end of the alley while Spike kept the monsters attention focused on him, blocking fireballs with his shield as he started getting kicks and punches in in-between.

Buffy found a fire escape ladder on the side of the building and looping her right arm through the metal handle of the garbage can lid, began to climb with her free hands. When she reached the top, she quickly sprinted on the rooftop until she made it to the highest point above the monster.

She closed her eyes, gathered her strength and with what she could muster, tightened her grip around the handle of the metal trash can lid and threw it hard, Frisbee style at the demon's head.

And just as the demon lurched forward toward Spike, the metal disc sliced through the back of the demon's neck, severing the demon's head off with deadly accuracy.

Spike's reflexes kicked in and he bend backward quickly at a ninety degree angle, watching as the metal disc brushed over his torso neck and face before landing behind him on the concrete floor of the alley with a loud clang.

Buffy smiled as she eyed the dead demon and Spike straightening and brushing himself off below her.

However, her triumph was short lived as the monster's carcass suddenly evaporated in thin air.

_Great_, she thought, _I just slayed possible the biggest demon of my career and there is nothing left to show for it. I bet the gang and the potentials would have liked to have seen it. _

Then, with a sigh, she turned toward Giles.

He was still bent over what now looked like someone slumped against the brink wall next to the dumpster, large amounts of blood pooling at his feet.

He was tearing off pieces of his own shirt to bandage the victim's wounds.

Buffy's face dropped and she immediately felt her heart stop in her chest when Giles moved aside and she saw that the 'victim' was Angel.

# # # # #

"So how's the sweetie-bear?" Spike asked as he walked to the doorway of Buffy' bedroom, eyeing Buffy sitting on the bed beside Angel's sleeping, bandaged form.

"Not so great. Willow's performed a few healing spells, but he not improving," Buffy sighed rubbing her neck as she stood, walking toward where Spike now leaned on the doorframe.

"Come to gloat?" she asked in a low voice with a raised eyebrow as she motioned him into the hallway and closed the bedroom door behind them.

"No…" Spike said following her lead on lowering his voice

Buffy looked down to her feet and kept her face as placid as possible to conceal her emotions.

"So where have you been? It's nearly dawn" she asked with a steep breath, needing to change the subject

"You waited up for me?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow

"Don't sleep much these days" Buffy shot back, meeting his gaze

"Yeah…me neither."

Suddenly, it was clear by the look in his eyes that he was thinking about the other night when he had held her in the abandoned house when she had given up and needed someone to care about her, to give her her strength back—she had been thinking the exact same thing.

Quickly, they both broke eye contact.

"I—uh—I was out combing the area for information. Seeing if anyone underground knew anything about that thing we encountered tonight or where it might have come from."

"And?" Buffy asked folding her arms across her chest

"Nothing of significance…" he offered, "But, I'll tell you one thing, my gut tells me that it all ties back to our good friend, The First. I talked to Giles, and for all his hum-drumming, he seems to agree that I have a point. He's off gallivanting to find some of his old watcher pals and the gang is still downstairs trying to dig up information on _what_ our hell beastie was."  
"

So, you think The First raised this thing—brought it through a portal or something?"

"This close to the apocalypse, my money is on the answer being, yes, and as for coming out of a portal...it's possible."

"Well," Buffy's eyes narrowed, "If The First _did_ raise this thing, why would it come after Angel? Why not me? "

"Maybe he's doing it to distract you? Throw you off your game?"

Buffy exhaled deeply**,** "You mean that no matter what his real reasons, The First knew that hurting Angel would by extension hurt me."

Spike nodded, "And if Angel lives through his little encounter, I think we can expect more trouble from Mr. Evil himself, that's for damned sure."

Suddenly, Buffy reached over and took his hand.

"I-I don't think Angel's going to make it, Spike…It's bad." She said, her voice low and trembling

"I know," Spike said, swallowing back a lump in his throat, "Red told me. We passed each other on the stairs. She wishes she could do more."

Look," Buffy said softly, "I know you two aren't exactly chummy anymore and there is still jealous vampire issues and all, but there for awhile you ran together, am I right?"

Spike sighed in discontent, looking to Buffy's hand in his.

"I suppose traveling the world killing humans _does_ bring people together, yes…"

Spike closed his eyes in exasperation, "And here comes the part where you flutter your eyelashes and 'pretty please' ask me to find a way to help him?"

"Spike don't get all Pacey Witter on me now—"

Spike released her hand, moving away and beginning to pace to the other side of the hallway, "Well you can _forget it!_ I shared a hundred years with him killing, raping, pillaging, and lighting the world on fire. Then after all we'd been through, he abandons me, gets cursed with a soul and the next thing I know he's joined the slayer to foil my evil plans! Then two years later, he _loses_ his soul, joins _me_ in my evil plans! Then he steals my girlfriend…"

He looks Buffy over with a quick eye, "_Twice_!"

Buffy smirked as she continued to listen patiently to his rant.

"The bloke can't bloody well make up his mind whether he wants to be good or evil! _But,_ of course, that doesn't matter because he's the brooding, _handsome _one with the large forehead…so it's all okay. Hell, everywhere I go everyone _reveres_ Angel, everyone _thanks _Angel," he huffed, "him and his nancy boy hair… it's disgusting, really—"

"Yes. While _your_ hair is—"

"Hey, Billy Idol stole this look, Honey!"

Buffy put up her hands in surrender and Spike continued

"And what is up with his driving music? He always has to listen to his Barry Manilow—never any Ramones _or _Black Sabbath. I know he's liked the guy since like before Carter was president, but I mean seriously_,_ who listens to Barry Manilow anymore? Only complete saps, I suppose…" he rolled his eyes, "If that's the First's tastes, he can bloody well have him…see if I care…"

"Are you _done_?" Buffy asked perplexed, "or should I book time on 'Hardball'?"

Spike snorted, "It'll be Hell freezing over before this is _ever_ done—"

"So, you'll help him?" Buffy asked, but already knew the answer-that it had all been a show. That Spike had done it to make her smile.

She needed a smile after tonight.

Spike snapped his attention to her and smiled cheekily, "Bloody right I'll help him. This will be one more thing I can hold over nancy boy's head. Plus if he dies, I don't want to hear you bitch about it."

Buffy closed her eyes, sighing with relief, a small smile crossing her face.

When they opened, she moved toward him, her eyes now searching his with a painful sadness. She retook his hand and looked down at it now folded in hers.

"Thank You," she said in a soft whisper.

She didn't look at him, but Spike could see the tears streaking down her face.

There was a time when Spike would have done anything to see a slayer in pain, but that wasn't how it was now. Every time he looked into her face, he knew that he never wanted to see Buffy Summers in pain and seeing Angel like this was clearly painful for her.

The sight of her in this state quelled any remaining sense of jealousy inside him.

"Give me a call if you hear from Giles or we find out what our creature friend is. I'll go out and try to get some more answers and be back before first light" he said, stroking the tears from one of her cheeks

"Where are you going?" Buffy sniffed as she wiped under her eyes

Spike looked back over his shoulder and smiled as he quipped, "I'm going to see a girl."

Then, just as stealthily as he had appeared, he left, moving swiftly down the hall, the sound of his boots trotting down the main staircase before Buffy heard the front door close.

# # # # #

Spike drove for nearly an hour before he ended up in a middle class neighborhood outside Modesto.

It was a normal, everyday evening on an ordinary street with all the sights and sounds it afforded. He parked his motorcycle along the main drag downtown outside the local coffee shop. He flipped open the cell phone Buffy had given him a few weeks back and re-read the text message he had received about thirty minutes before to make sure he was in the right place.

As he walked through the door, a charming little bell rang and the smell of muffins, croissants and freshly brewed coffee hit him.

His eyes scanned the room and it wasn't long before he saw her seated at a tall table in the center of the evening crowd. She was facing away from him, but he knew it was her immediately—wavy dark red hair, the posture of a soldier, wearing a pink turtle neck sweater over black leather pants and high heel boots.

The light fixture overhead that caused her reflection to appear in the bay window revealed that she still didn't look a day over twenty. Her pale lips sipped her coffee out of a to-go cup as her eyes scanned over a copy of _David Copperfield_.

Spike smirked as he made his way through the middle of the long line that stretched past a neatly scrawled free-stand chalkboard with the coffee of the day on it all the way to the door. He always found it amazing that humans could drink coffee this late at night.

As he came up behind her, he reveled a little in the idea that she wouldn't be able to see his reflection in the glass.

"Why is six afraid of seven?" He asked in a low tone as he moved in close.

To her credit, she didn't even jump—not that he really expected her to—she just calmly put her book down and took another sip of her coffee before smirking over her left shoulder.

"Because seven ate nine," she said, answering his riddle with confidence.

Spike smiled.

"Aurelia" he said, nodding, as she turned on her stool to face him.

"Hello, William. It's been a long time."


	2. Chapter 2

Buffy rubbed her tired eyes as she descended down the front stairs.

She looked at the grandfather clock by the door.

3:20am

The house was quiet.

Most of the potentials were sleeping the basement, five more in Willow's room and some in Dawn's, displaced by Angel being put in hers.

Buffy smiled as she reached the bottom landing and saw Xander passed out on the sofa.

_Poor guy, his room had been commandeered by potentials, too_…she thought as she grabbed a blanket from a nearby recliner and tossed it over him gently.

Buffy turned and had just started to make her way toward the hall-she planned to head to the kitchen and brew herself some hot tea-when the front door opened suddenly.

"Buffy!" Giles cried looking around, then noticing her in the doorway of the living room, breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank God, you're awake."

"Holy Batman!" Xander cried out, sitting straight up and throwing the blankets off of himself before Buffy could reply, "I'm awake too! Can't a guy sleep like the dead around here?"

"I'm sorry, Xander," Giles lamented, "But we have something of a situation here."

"What is it?" Buffy asked, narrowing her eyes, worried

"Where is Spike?"

"He—he left, about an hour ago." Buffy replied

"Oh, God…" Giles said in a low voice, removing his glasses and wiping them vigorously with the front tail of his suede shirt.

"Giles, you're cleaning your glasses…" Buffy sighed

"What?" Giles asked, distracted

"That's usually the sign of impending doom." Buffy retorted

"What? No—" Giles started defensively

"_Yes._" Buffy and Xander answered simultaneously

"Well, there _is_ a slight problem. One that we might want to be aware of…"Giles said as he replaced his glassed on his face, "You see, I went to visit a friend of mine, Finn Healy, he's a retired watcher and teaches at UCLA. I wanted to see if I could get any more information about what attacked Angel. He's something of a foremost researcher on obscure demons—"

"_And?_ Did he know something?" Buffy encouraged impatiently

"No. No, I'm afraid not. But while I was there, he received a notification from one of his contacts in Eastern Europe that the Order of St. Nicolae was on the move—"

"The _who?_ And the _what?_" Xander asked, rolling his shoulders and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"An order, in fact, a very _old_ order…Jenny Calender and her uncle, Yanosh Petrova were members, if you remember."

Buffy's eyes widened, "You mean the Romanian order—the one that was charged with keeping an eye on Angel after he regained his soul."

"Yes… to ensure that he never lost it, again."

"But, why do you look so worried?" Buffy continued, "What does this have to do with what's happening now?"

Giles took a breath, then turned and moved to the staircase, taking a seat on the bottom step.

"The _full_ Order of St. Nicolae has not set foot in the United States…well_, ever..._and I'm afraid they are here_. _I'm not going to lie, Buffy, it does not bode well for Angel or Spike, for that matter—"

"Spike?" Buffy asked, stepping forward, "What about him?"

"The Gypsy girl that Angel killed in 1890 was no ordinary girl. She was the daughter of a wealthy warlord and clansman, and as it turns out, an immortal."

"A vampire?" Buffy asked, confused

"No, a human who lives forever," Xander chimed in as he came to her side in the doorway, "Geez...keep up, would ya, Slayer."

"His name was Nicolae Sandoravici," Giles continued, undeterred, "and he was the one who had his village seerers place the curse on Angel, to give him back his soul and grant him eternal suffering. He then founded the Order of St. Nicolae, scores of his followers and immortal and human descendents throughout the generations who feel it is their loyal and familial obligation to ensure that Angel never harms another living being and that his soul remains intact. But, you see Angel wasn't the only one associated with the girl's death. Spike was there as well, though what his role was, I'm not sure. And whatever it was, he escaped eastern Europe, but not before killing the hundreds of order members who tried to capture him. The point is that Angel is not the only one whose movements have been tracked by the order, Spike has been as well, for centuries, and the order being here means that something heavy is coming down and that Spike and Angel are at the heart of it. They would never travel thousands of miles, otherwise."

"So, you think they'll come for Spike and Angel?" Buffy asked, fear suddenly entering her mind

"Undoubtedly, yes." Giles continued, "_When…_ I'm not sure. But they _will _be coming and in full force. We need to find Spike."

"I told you, he left," Buffy said, furrowing her eyebrows, lack of sleep causing her to forget the exact details of what he said, but she tried to remember, "He said he was going to find a way to help Angel, something about that he was going to see a girl—"

Giles quickly stood from his seat on the stairs, "Did he say who?"

"No…" Buffy replied

"_We need to find him_." Giles said sternly

"I'll see if Willow can track his cell phone," Xander offered

Giles nodded, then watched as Xander raced up the stairs to wake Willow, before sitting on the bottom stair again, his face going pale.

"Buffy, there is only one woman in the Order of St. Nicolae," he said, almost in a whisper, "Her name is Aurelia Sandoravici, she is a trained warrior and assassin, the longest living direct descendent of Nicolae."

"You mean the girl Spike is going to meet…he's walking into a trap?"

"No." Giles, said, measuring his words carefully, as to not upset her. He knew she was very emotional when it came to Spike, especially after Giles' own attempt to end the vampire's life, "I'm betting that Spike knows exactly what he's getting himself into. But, I think you should prepare yourself."

"What?" Buffy asked breathlessly, taking a step back

"Spike does know who can cure Angel—it's an old being, something spoke of only in legend—and it lives in and is protected by the Order of St. Nicolae. My guess is that Spike isn't walking into a trap. He's meeting with Aurelia to offer a trade…himself for the cure."

# # # # # # #

"Please, sit."Aurelia said in a thick European accent as she turned back and gestured to the stool across the pub-style table.

"Thanks," Spike said, then leaned in and kissed her on her cheek and when he was close to her ear, whispered, "You got here fast. Red Eye?"

"Something like that,"

"So, how many are watching us, love?"

Aurelia smiled as he pulled away and removed his leather jacket, folding it over the back of the stool, before taking a seat.

He watched as she brought her coffee to her lips and pretended to sip to hide their movement.

"Two behind you at the table near the corner window, one in the coffee line, and two more in the alley out back," she said in a low voice, before finally bringing her cup down.

"You don't trust me?" Spike smirked, folding his hands together on the table

"I'm not the one whose trust you should be worried about" Aurelia shot back with raised eyebrows, "I made you a promise many years ago and I intend to keep it. However, I cannot speak for any other party."

"By any other party, you mean that bounty hunting gypsy brother of yours and his Rumanian hoard."

Aurelia cocked an eyebrow and snorted.

"And how is our boy, Ionel these days?" Spike chided with a smile as he searched his back pocket, finally pulling his pack of smokes out in one hand, pulling one out with his lips while he continued searching for his Zippo lighter with the other.

"He's fine, though, not too happy to be hearing from you again. But for the sake of others, he's showing much more restraint than Nicolae or any of the other elders ever would if they knew your blood-sucking ass was here," she reached over and plucked the cigarette from his mouth and then the pack from his hand, "And just what the _hell_ are you doing with that? You can't smoke in here. This is a coffee shop, not a speak-easy… besides," she smiled, "those things will kill you, you know."

"So, where is he?" Spike asked, flexing his now empty hand angrily before putting it down.

"Close by," Aurelia said putting the pack down on the table in front of her, "And let's just say that my brother is merely being cautious. Can you blame him after the last time you paid us a visit? Or the time before that? Or _definitely_ the time before that?" she asked as she fiddled with the lid on her coffee cup.

"Well, all I can say is that things were different back then," he said, leaning in and meeting her gaze directly, "_I_ was different back then. I didn't have—"

"Your soul…" she whispered, looking down as her hand continued to move in circles over the plastic, "I know. I sensed it on you the minute you walked in here. I heard it in the ether from the spirits, though I didn't quit believe it until I saw in your eyes a few moments ago."

She paused and smiled, knowing that Spike was taken aback.

"And I'm happy for you, probably more than anyone, but, it doesn't matter now. Not to him and not to the others. I could defend you for a thousand years, but to my people you will always be the monster they remember and still see in their nightmares. That will never change."

There was a silence that hung in the air for a few moments.

"So," she said, looking up, smirking, "Now that we've gotten all the pleasantries out of the way. I presume you'd like to talk about why we're here."

Spike straightened, "You know what got our boy?"

"Know? Psychic, remember? I had a vision about it not long before you contacted us. How else do you think I was able to convince Ionel to let me meet with you minus the bodyguards that carry the _pointy _weapons?"

Spike opened his mouth, but Aurelia's hand immediately went up to silence him.

"It's _not_ good." she said with a sad smirk

"What's not good?"

"You were going to ask me what I saw in my vision and the answer is 'it's not good'—the beast, why it's here on this earth, nor the outcome for Angel..._all not good._"

"Do you know what kind of demon it was?" Spike asked in a low voice

Aurelia inhaled slowly and closed her eyes, looking as if she was searching her mind for something.

There was a pause as Spike watched her face as it contorted before she quickly re-opened her eyes and gasped.

"Yes. It's called a Devok Demon and it's one of the oldest and strongest demons to walk the earth before man. When someone is stabbed by the creature's tail, the poison secreted acts as a hallucinogenic, putting the person in a delirious state coupled with fever, cold sweats and a pestilent rash that covers the body."

"Sounds like what our boy's got."

"Like I said… it's not good." Aurelia continued, "Not many high demons would be able to open a portal and bring something like that through. Only one of the oldest ones could do it."

"The First…" Spike whispered and Aurelia nodded

"We know about The First, we've been keeping tabs on the upcoming apocalypse, though we've been careful not to make our presence in the fight known. We're immortals. We have no right to interfere in the fate of humans."

Spike looked down at his hands, thinking of Buffy.

"He's going to die…isn't he? Angel?" he asked solemnly

"If what I see in my vision comes to pass—in a manner of speaking, yes."

"What do you mean 'in a manner of speaking, yes'?" Spike snarked

"Angel is a vampire. He doesn't have a heartbeat or living flesh. The poison still affects him, yes, but it has nothing to destroy except…"

Spike's eyes suddenly widened in shock, "You don't mean his _soul_?"

"It's the only living thing left inside him. That's why we're here…all of us…to stop that from happening again. Oh, yeah, and because of that thing you so foolishly promised my brother over the phone if he were to bring the cure."

"You mean… me?" Spike smirked cheekily

"God, you're _so dumb_." Aurelia said, shaking her head

"No, baby," Spike smiled as he pulled the pack of cigarettes back across the table to him and lit one between his lips, "I'm clever...and I'm bad."


	3. Chapter 3

Xander walked through the kitchen door into the dining room, holding two cups of coffee.

He swung one of them in Willow's line of vision as she sat slightly dazed in front of her laptop at the dining room table, still in her Hello Kitty tank top and matching pajama bottoms.

She yawned as she continued typing with one hand and reached for the offered mug with the other, taking a sip and setting it on the table beside her computer as she brought her now free hand back to the keyboard.

Xander took a seat next to Buffy at the table as Willow continued to type silently.

Buffy bit her lip in thought, bringing her cell phone to rest on her chin as she anxiously awaited for Willow to finish her tracing program.

"Buffy," Xander said finally, "Are you sure we should do this? I mean, if this is what Spike wants-"

Buffy turned quickly to Xander, her brow furrowed

"Spike shouldn't have to sacrifice himself. It's not right." She said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she brought her legs under her Indian style, "Besides, we can't loose him. We have an apocalyptic battle coming up—we'll need him."

"You mean _you_ need him?" Xander asked as he took a sip from his mug

Buffy shot Xander a 'don't go there' look

"Got it." Willow said finally, pulling her hands away from her laptop keyboard and reaching for her coffee, "We're online. You can call Spike now. Keep him on the line for at least fifteen seconds and I'll be able to tell you exactly where he is."

"I don't understand why _Spike_ can't just tell us where he is," Xander quipped as he took another sip of coffee

"Because," Buffy sighed as she flipped open her cell phone, "If Giles is right about what Spike is about to do, he won't want us to know where he is—he knows we'll try to stop him. He won't want that."

"Why not?" Willow asked, "What's so special about being captured by Romanians?"

# # # # # #

When she had finished her cofee and he had put out his cigarette, Spike followed Aurelia out the front door of the coffee shop, then after taking a quick look around, they both ducked off into the alley that ran caticorner to the back side of the building.

As they moved deeper into the darkness, Spike suddenly saw the headlights of a very large black SUV turn on, illuminating the entire alleyway.

Spike stopped, holding his hand up to shield his eyes for a moment as Aurelia continued to move forward toward the car as all four of the passenger doors opened at once.

One by one, six men exited the car, each of them extremely well dressed, with dark hair, olive skin, the same brooding look and piercing gray eyes-which at the moment, were all fixed on Spike with an air of both reverence and anger.

The tallest one, the driver, closed his door and straightened his Brooks Brothers navy blue suit jacket, before stepping forward.

"Brutul picioare raspandit," he commanded in a calm, thick Romanian accent as he approached Spike.

Spike smirked, shaking his head as he raised his arms above his head and stood in an open stance, spreading his legs like the man asked.

"Nice to see you, too, Ionel," Spike snarked as the man frisked him for any type of weapon, then stepped back into the floodlights as his counterparts came to his sides.

"William, you remember the rest of my brothers, don't you?" Aurelia asked

Spike nodded, his eyes scanning over the lot as he named them and nodded to each in turn, "Razvan, Stefan, Sorin, Mikhail, Luca…"

Then, suddenly, Spike sensed a presence behind him.

His reflexes kicked in and immediately, he lunged forward, a sword sweeping over his back, narrowly missing him.

As he came up again, Spike quickly turned and grabbed hold of the end of the blade tightly with two hands, the wielder unable to pull it his from his grasp.

"And of course…Dracos."

"We should have killed you a hundred years ago," the broad-shouldered brother known as Dracos, spat in broken English

"And yet, I'm still here," Spike smiled in a mocking tone, letting go of the blade and stepping back

"A mixture of dumb luck and the fact that _she _won't let us kill you," Dracos retorted as he reluctantly holstered his blade, but both he and Spike knew he didn't mean Aurelia.

Spike's smile faded for a moment as Dracos stepped closer.

"I see you are still a good fighter," he said with a smirk as his glance moved to the scar above Spike's eyebrow, "though I also see that my mark still remains."

"It was just a scratch," Spike retorted

Dracos cocked an eyebrow as he brushed hard past Spike and moved to stand with his brothers.

As Spike turned back to the Romanians, Ionel stepped forward once more.

"You know why we are here, William. As members of the Order of St. Nicolae, we cannot allow Angel to return to monster he once was. From what Aurelia tells us, her vision shows her that if he is not cured of his injuries from this demon that attacked him, he will lose his soul and all that we fear will come to pass. Now, we hold the cure in our possession—"

"Where is—"

"_It is safe_." Ionel replied quickly, narrowing his eyes

"Can I see h—"

"_Only _when we have discussed terms," Ionel said sternly

Spike reluctantly nodded

Ionel played with the cuffs on his jacket as he continued, "We will allow you access to the cure for a period of twenty four hours. Aurelia will accompany you at all times. She will be armed and will be responsible for the safety of the cure. We will monitor the situation from a safe distance as to not interfere. We know that you are in league with the vampire slayer now and we also know of the coming apocalypse. _That_ is not our concern. Angel is our only concern here."

Spike straightened as he noticed Ionel step closer to him, looking him straight in the eye.

"If, after the twenty four hour period, the cure does not work, we will kill Angel. If anything goes wrong and/ or if the cure is harmed in _any way_, we will kill Angel. And further more, if you try to stop us from fulfilling our mission or if you pull a stunt like you did eighty years ago, we will kill Angel...and then we will kill _you._ Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Spike retorted

"Very good. And then, if all goes well. You will come back with us to Romania?"

"Yes."

"That is all Nicolae wants…" Ionel said, cocking his head, then held out his right hand, "_that_, and of course, the return of what is not rightfully yours."

Spike eyed Ionel's outstretched hand for a moment, then scoffed, "You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers,"

Ionel took a breath and stepped back, "One day, perhaps, I will."

Spike rolled his shoulders, his eyes still glaring at the oldest Sandoravici sibling

"Aurelia trusts you. Unfortunately, she is not the first of my siblings to make that mistake, but thankfully, she will be the last," he paused a moment before he continued, still eying Spike heavily, "I can see in your eyes that you now have a soul. It must weigh heavily on you, William—the things you've done, the lives you took. And I hope that you _choke_ on those memories, I hope they haunt you all the rest of your days. You _deserve it_ after what you did to me and my family-"

"Ionel, _enough,_" Aurelia said softly, quickly stepping forward and grabbing her brother's arm to steady him before he let his emotions control his actions.

Ionel glared at Spike one more time, his lip trembling with unspoken anger before he turned and walked back toward the car, handing the keys to Razvan before getting into the back of the SUV.

Aurelia watched as one of her other brothers, Luca, stayed behind, moving toward her and holding out a piece of paper he had pulled from his jacket pocket.

"Here is the address where we are keeping the cure. It will be under heavy guard. The password is 'Isobel'," he said in a low voice, "Remember, you only have twenty-four hours. If you need more time, we will try to stall, but we can't hold Ionel back forever."

"Thank you," Aurelia smiled as she took the paper and kissed her brother on the cheek.

Luca then glanced to Spike.

"She misses you," he said softly, before jogging back to his brothers in the waiting SUV


	4. Chapter 4

"So, you've been quiet. Are you alright?" Aurelia asked, keeping her eyes on the road as she drove a few miles outside of town.

"Of course I'm _not alright_," Spike said in a low voice as she stared out the front passenger side window of the SUV, "Would _you_ be alright if you were me right now?"

"Are you scared of—"

"Scared?" Spike asked, nervously shifting in his seat, straightening his jacket as he turned to Aurelia, "I'm _terrified._"

Aurelia smirked, "'William The Bloody' is terrified?"

"Look at my hands," Spike said, holding out his palms toward Aurelia, "Their shaking and if I had a beating heart, it would be jumping out of my chest right now. I haven't felt this way since…"

Spike stopped and closed his eyes for a moment, shaking the thoughts from his head as he tried to steady himself.

"You'll be _fine_. And I'll be right there if you need me." Aurelia said reassuringly, giving a sideways glance as she continued driving.

"Thanks," Spike breathed

Suddenly, his cell phone rang.

Spike dug in his jacket pocket for a moment, then produced the contraption from his pocket and flipped open the phone, eying the caller ID.

It was Buffy.

Spike took a breath and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Thank God! Have you turned yourself over to the Order of St. Nicolae?"

Spike closed his eyes and sighed, "Hold on, Slayer—"

"No…_No_!…you don't tell me to_ hold on_!" Buffy cried through the receiver, "You told me you were going to meet someone who might know how to cure Angel, not that you were going turn yourself over to an immortal human and her vampire bounty hunters and let them _kill you."_

"The Sandoravicis and I go way back. Yes, there is some bad blood there and they are a little rough around the edges, but no one's _dying_…at least, not yet."

"I don't know about that. It looks like my brothers unleashed his favorite weapon as a welcoming committee," Aurelia murmured and Spike looked over to see her face go pale as she glanced in her rear view mirror

With the phone still pressed to his ear, Spike immediately turned and looked over his shoulder to the back rear window where he saw a large pack of werewolves chasing them down the otherwise dark and abandoned freeway.

"How's your Lycan whispering coming along these days?" she joked nervously as Spike's mouth fell open.

"Buffy," he said quickly in the calmest manner he could muster as he turned forward in his seat and felt Aurelia hit the gas, "I _gotta go_. We got werewolves."

"_What?!"_ Buffy cried on the other end of the line in disbelief, "That's impossible! Are you sure?"

Suddenly, there was a loud thud above them, the shifting weight throwing the SUV off balance and causing Aurelia to swerve the car slightly across the line and Spike to reach up and grab the emergency handle above the passenger side door with his free hand to keep from flying through the windshield.

Seconds later, one of the wolves jumped from its place on the roof over the front of the car and onto the road in front of them as a second one leaned over the side, looking through the passenger side window at Spike, its hot breath fogging the window as it snarled.

"Umm…_pretty sure_," Spike answered quickly, then hit the end button on his phone as Aurelia brought the car to a screeching halt, inches away from the waiting Lycanthrop's face.

# # # # # # # # # #

Angel felt a hand touch his sweating brow as he began to come to and gently grabbed it.

He heard a muffled sound of surprise and when he finally opened his eyes, realized that it wasn't Buffy tending to him, it was Willow.

He smiled, trying to put her at ease as he brought their still enfolded hands to rest on his bare, but bandaged chest.

"Sorry," he whispered, "I thought you were Buffy,"

"It's okay," Willow said as she came to sit on the edge of the bed next to him, "Welcome back. Now if you can just stay conscious for at least five minutes, there will be hope—oh, wait—did I say hope?—I didn't mean to make it sound like there _wasn't_ hope! See this face," she pointed to her face nervously with her free hand, adjusting its features to show fake happiness instead of worry, "It's brimming with hope—"

Angel mustered a small smile, "Its okay, Willow. I know the score and it's not good. I heard Buffy talking to Giles when they thought I was asleep."

"Sneaky boy…" Willow chided with a smile of her own, but then it quickly faded as she squeezed his hand absentmindedly, "I'm sorry we can't do more."

"I appreciate what you _have_ done," he said softly as he looked down to his bandaged chest and then to the witch at his side once more, his brown eyes meeting her green, then it broke away to Xander and Anya entered the room, "All of you…"

"Yeah…" Xander said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a shrug, "Well, you're not so bad anymore."

"Yes…we like our big, fluffy Angel." Anya chimed in

"What's the word with Spike?" Willow asked Xander over her shoulder, trying to ignore Anya's comment.

She had left Buffy and Xander downstairs after she set up the tracing program to check on Angel. Now, she was curious as to the next step.

"Spike?" Angel asked furrowing his eyebrows, "What does he have to do with this?"

"Well, he left earlier to see if he could find a cure for what's happening to you," Willow said, turning back, "But, whatever he found, we think he may have made a trade with the Order of St. Nicolae for it—"

"The Order—The Order of —" Angel gasped, "They're _here_?"

He tried in vain to sit up, but Willow eased him back down with Xander's help

"No—He—he _can't_!" Angel sputtered as he released Willow's hand and clutched his chest, pain spreading across his face.

"What's happening?" Xander asked Willow, his eyes quickly filling with concern, "He's turning a weird shade of red! Is that_ possible_? Can vampires flush like that?"

"Something's wrong…_very wrong_…" Willow said in a panicked voice as she watched Angel start to writhe on the bed under Xander's grip.

Angel let out a string of screams as Anya came to the end of the bed to grab hold of his flailing legs in an effort to help.

"Whatever this mystery demon did to him, I think the side effects are finally starting to rear their ugly head _now_!" Anya yelled over the commotion Angel was making, trying to grip his knees

"I need to get some ingredients to make something to calm him down. Just try to hold him until I get back!" Willow cried as she quickly stood from her position on the bed and raced out of the room and down the hall out of sight.

Not long after she disappeared, Angel finally fell limp on the bed, Anya and Xander breathless, but decidedly not letting go of their grip on him until Willow's return.

Angel's breath was heavy as he closed his eyes, then opened them weakly, his gaze turning to Xander.

"Just let me die, " he whispered, "It was my fault…_all of it_ was my fault. He shouldn't have to do this…"

"Do what?" Xander asked, "Turn himself over?"

"No. Go through the… pain…" Angel whispered, trying desperately to keep himself conscious

"The pain?" Anya furrowed her brow in confusion, turning to Xander, who leaned down toward Angel wanting to know the answer himself.

"Angel? What pain? _Who's _pain_?"_ Xander asked

But it was too late.

Angel had fallen unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

**_((Music fic-GAH! This is for Jen. She loves those things. Been awhile since I did one. Here it goes, God help us:) The song is 'Sky's Still Blue' by the very talented Andrew Belle))_**

Buffy held Willow's laptop nervously as she sat in front passenger seat of Xander's Buick, watching the car's location grow closer to the pulsating blue dot on the GPS tracking screen.

"Get ready to slow down. Spike's last cell signal came from a spot just ahead here," she said, looking briefly up and out through the windshield, then down at the screen again, the knot in her stomach tightening with anticipation.

"Don't worry," Xander said, gazing at her out of the corner of his one good eye with a slight smile, "We won't miss it. You can thank our upcoming apocalypse for that. I mean, we're not exactly in rush hour traffic here..."

Buffy smiled a little, trying to relax as she continued to track their progress toward Spike's location.

But, it was coming on dawn and the highway was abandoned.

It _did_ seem a little eerie.

Then, as she looked up again, she saw something that officially put them in the Twilight Zone.

"Oh, my God…" she said softly under her breath as she closed the computer on her lap immediately and tossed it over her shoulder onto the back seat.

"Well, _this_ would definitely be on the traffic report as a potential for a bottle neck," Xander quipped in a low voice

_**Your heart is a city,  
Your eyes are a fixture…  
The mind tells a story,  
With ten thousand pictures…**_

Buffy opened her door to get out before Xander could even stop the car. Her mouth was agape in awe as she timed her exit perfectly with Xander's braking, closing the door behind her quickly as her feet hit the ground and she jogged up to the carnage that lay in the car's headlights on the highway.

_**We stumble upon it,  
Fell through the ceiling tiles…**_

Buffy couldn't believe it, there really were werewolves.

Buffy had been terrified for Spike when he told her about the pending attack on the phone, but, based on what lay before her, it looked like the wolves got the brunt of it.

A quick count in her head brought her to nearly forty bodies.

_Forty_ slaughtered werewolves littering the highway before them for a good three hundred feet, making it impossible to drive through.

There was no sign of Spike.

_**We drew up a landscape,  
We climbed down a ladder…  
Carved out a memory,  
To follow the pattern…  
**_

As they walked through the stretch of bodies, Xander bent down to check for any survivors.

_**And now on a clear glass wall,  
I can see my faith…**_

Suddenly, Buffy could feel warmth of the early morning sunrise and turned to watch it as it rose above the tree line on the other side of the highway, the beauty of the orange and yellow light illuminating everything, as if for the very first time.

_**You know it's never too late…**_

Buffy brought her hazel gaze back over her shoulder, watching as the werewolves on the asphalt began reverting back to their human forms as they their bodies were touched by the sunlight one by one.

_**Oh, if you're hearing this,  
I must have made it through…  
**_

"Buffy," Xander called a few feet away as he stood from where he had crouched at the side of the one of the wolves. He held up what looked like the remains of a cell phone, "Looks like one of our boys here took a good bite out of Spike's cell. No telling where he is now."

_**Oh, when the clouds are burned,  
Open up my window,  
**_

_**I see the sky's still blue…**_

Buffy closed her eyes.

Hopefully, that was all they took a bite out of.

But, Spike was alright.

Somehow, in her gut and in her heart, she knew _that._

If he wasn't, she would have felt it, she was sure of it…

She opened her eyes and looked around, taking a short breath as she scanned her eyes across the abandoned highway, then the wooded tree line.

But, where was he?

That was the question.

# # # # # # #

"Well,_ that_ was interesting," Aurelia mused as she pulled the SUV to the curb in front of a 1920's cottage style suburban home, rubbing the steering wheel lovingly, "And not a scratch on my baby here."

Spike smirked as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked down to the gash in his black t-shirt, though the wound beneath it was already starting to heal.

"Thanks for the concern," he quipped with a raised eyebrow

"I gave you the gun, didn't I?" Aurelia retorted, turning to him as she unfastened her seat belt

"Oh, yeah… the one thing I _didn't_ use," Spike said as he reached into the back of his jeans and pulled out the handgun, holding the butt of the weapon with two fingers as he turned it back over to her, "It was a lovely thought though."

She smiled as she took it, and re-holstered it on her leg, "Just trying to help. There _were_ quite a few of them. But, I should have known you're still a 'fist and fangs' kind of fighter, even after all these years."

There was moment of silence as Spike suddenly turned to look out of the passenger side window up to the house.

"Moment of truth, eh?" he said in a low voice, "Do you think they'll roll out the red carpet?"

Aurelia placed a hand on his shoulder, "Sadly, I think the wolves _were_ the red carpet, William."

Spike smirked as he unlocked his door and heard Aurelia follow his lead, exiting through the driver's side door on the other side.

When Spike made it to the sidewalk, he straightened his jacket with visibly shaking hands.

He sighed as he placed them in his pockets.

_God,_ he thought, _get a hold of yourself._

When Aurelia made it to his side, she nodded to him, then he followed her lead as she rested her hand on the firearm at her side and began ascending the stone steps to the front porch of the house.

She rang the door bell and Spike could hear a Victorian chime sound on the other side of the stained glass front door.

After a few moments, a tall man with gelled dark brown hair, dressed in a designer suit and shouldering a machine gun came to the door, followed by a stockier blonde man, also in a designer suit, but without the jacket, brandishing cross swords on his back.

"Aurelia," the dark man nodded in broken English when the door opened, "I see you're still in one piece."

"Can't say the same for the Nightwalkers," Aurelia smiled, patting her gun and cocking her head, "Was it you that sent them, Ivan?"

The dark man smiled devishly then fixed his eyes hard on Spike for a few moments before turning back to Aurelia, "Password?"

There was a moment's pause as the four eyed each other, Aurelia's hand still on her firearm and the blonde body guard moving his hand stealthily to the handle of one of the broadswords just behind his right shoulder blade as a precaution.

"Isobel," Aurelia said confidently as the blonde flared his nostrils, then looking to Ivan, nodded and lowered his hand from his weapons.

They both stepped aside.

"The cure is in the drawing room," the blonde said sternly, still eying the pair as Aurelia stepped through the threshold.

"Thank You, Sasha," Aurelia replied, then turned back, but still saw Spike standing on the other side apprehensively.

"It's alright," she said, "You don't need an invite. The owner of the house is dead. The house was in foreclosure when we took it."

Spike smirked nervously as he stepped causally through the threshold and looked around, then took a few apprehensive steps to the side to avoid being hit as Sasha closed the door behind them.

"Come on," Aurelia said in a soft voice as she turned and began walking down the hallway before them that ran just along the side of the grand staircase.

But for Spike it seemed to all be happening in slow motion.

_**A vision is a portrait,  
A palate of colors…  
We swim in an ocean,  
With blindfolded lovers…**_

Spike's hands were still in his coat but he could feel them shaking intensely.

His chest tightened as they passed through the foyer and front parlor.

He closed his eyes to steady himself…as if that were possible at this very moment

**_And now that I've found my side,_  
_Oh, I finally realize..._  
**

Spike opened his eyes when he heard Aurelia's footsteps stop and they found themselves in front of two large French glass doors that led to the drawing room.

_**That it was there the whole time…**_

Aurelia took an audible breath before opening the doors and standing aside for Spike to enter first.

_**Oh, if you're hearing this,  
I must have made it through…  
**_

Spike straightened as he entered the room.

He looked around for a moment, before he saw her.

_**Oh, when the clouds are burned,  
Open up my window…  
**_

_**I see the sky's still blue…**_

She was lying on the sofa, her feet propped up on the end, reading a book.

She looked different from when her first saw her and _especially_ since their last meeting eighty years before—_older_.

When she sensed his presence, she lowered her book, revealing her features to him.

She was all of fourteen now, with dark brown, curly, shoulder length hair.

The olive complexion of her face paled slightly, a mixture of awe, excitement and disbelief as she beheld him across the room.

She tossed the book gently on the oriental rug and sat up on the sofa, soon bringing herself to stand, revealing her clothing choice of a Black Sabbath t-shirt and dungaree blue jeans.

Her feet were bare and her wrists were adorned with a spiked watch and several sparkle gel bracelets.

She smirked slightly as she continued to study him with piercing blue eyes—his only genetic feature to be passed on to her—then turned them on her Aunt, who leaned on the door frame with her arms folded across her chest, watching their reunion unfold.

_**I see the sky's still blue...**_

"Is it really you?" the girl asked, bringing her eyes back to Spike as they began to brim with tears.

Spike felt his own resolve crumble as he removed his hands from his pockets and held them out to her.

"It's me, love," Spike smiled softly

The girl's breath caught as she stepped closer, walking into Spike's hands as he took her face in them briefly before pulling her into an embrace.

She was so warm-her heart beat steady.

He was in heaven, he had to be...

_**Oh, when the clouds are burned,  
Open up my window…  
**_

_**I see the sky's still blue…**_

Spike looked back over his shoulder to Aurelia, still leaning on the door frame, smiling softly as she wiped her own tears from her cheeks._**  
**_

_****__**Oh, if you're hearing this,  
I must have made it through…**_

"I've missed you so much…" the girl whispered into his leather jacket.

"I told you I would come back for you," Spike said, turning back and kissing the girl's hair as he held her tighter, "I will _always_ come back for you."

_****__****__**Oh, if you're hearing this,  
**_

_**I see the sky's still blue…**_


	6. Chapter 6

"We're back!" Buffy called as she walked through the front door of the Summers residence, Xander following close behind.

"Did you find Spike?" Kennedy asked as she came out the dining room, with Giles and Willow close behind

"No." Buffy sighed as she removed her jacket and tossed it over the banister

"But we did find his cell phone," Xander said, grimacing as he held up the mangled cell, "After the werewolves went all animal kingdom on it, that is."

"Are those…bite marks?" Willow asked, leaning closer to look at the phone Xander had on display

"Spike wasn't lying about the werewolves," Buffy said, folding her arms across her chest as she looked over to Giles, "We saw at least forty bodies scattered on the freeway."

"Looks like Spike took care of it," Kennedy chimed in

"Yeah, Giles, you said this Sandoravici chick was some sort of assassin, but I'm telling you, Uma Thurman's got _nothing_ on her," Xander quipped, bringing his index finger across his throat, "Nice and neat with a sword. Heads clean off—"

"Thanks, I think we can get the picture, Xand," Willow interrupted, holding her hands up in surrender

"So they're on the move?" Giles asked, looking to Buffy

"Looks like," she replied, "But they must be traveling by car—we didn't see a foot trail anywhere near the highway."

Giles took a breath and turned, walking back into the dining room, "Well, I don't think we should panic yet, my guess is that if Spike is in a car with Aurelia Sandoravici, they aren't going to kill him just yet. The Sandoravicis are an aristocratic family, they live by a strict code of honor."

"Cool! Like superheroes!" Xander chimed in

Buffy, Willow and Kennedy all turned around to look at him strangely

"What? Wrong time for humor?" Xander shrugged

"Yes." Willow said

When everyone turned their attention on him again, Giles sat down at the dining room table behind a stack of research materials and continued, "My guess is that if a deal was struck, they will honor their end. They have something that will cure Angel—"

"I know this is a question that might get me shot in a room full of Angel groupies," Kennedy said, raising her hand as she stepped forward, "But if the Sandoravicis are so hell bent against Angel, why haven't they tried to kill him all these years? Even _with_ his soul?"

Buffy flared her nostrils and turned back to Giles with a raised eyebrow

"That's a good question Kennedy. The answer is that the Sandoravicis, in living by a code of honor, respect the balance of nature and all creatures—living and undead. They are immortals and do not insert themselves in matters of the living world that are not of their concern. My guess is that they have not killed Angel because when he has his soul, he gives them no cause to—he harms no one and suffers eternally with the curse they gave him."

"But, he's lost his soul _twice_ between 1890 and now, so why haven't these Sandoravici guys stepped in before?" Willow asked

"I've been doing some research and I think something has changed…" Giles said, tossing an open book out in front of him, causing the group to circle around the table to look at its pages.

Buffy scanned the page, then looked up to Giles with widened eyes, "You found the monster that attacked, Angel?"

"One of my exiled former classmates from the Watcher's Academy came through with some ancient texts. It seems that the demon that attacked Angel was a Devok demon."

"And I'm guessing he doesn't make rainbows and toss out candy to local children when he's in town." Xander quipped with a cocked smile

Willow, Kennedy and Buffy turned to glare at him again

"_Geez_," Xander said, looking back down to the book to avoid their stares, "Tough room tonight…"

"The Devok demon is one of the oldest demons to ever walk the earth," Giles continued, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, "and _very powerful_—only an entity older and more superior could even attempt to raise one."

Giles closed his eyes for a moment then looked up to Buffy with deep reverence.

"The First," Buffy whispered, knowingly

Giles nodded, replacing his glasses.

"And there is more...and it concerns Angel," he said as he stood, leaning over the book on the table, bringing his finger down on the page to scan a passage, "The Devok demon has one weapon in its arsenal—it's tail, which when stabbed through a being, doses them with a heavy hallucinogenic virus that feeds on living essence, causing insanity, paralysis, immune and pulmonary failure and eventually death."

"But, how is _this_ new?" Willow asked, straightening, "Angel's going to die—we already know that. It's pretty obvious when you look at him that—"

"_No_, Willow," Giles said, raising a finger, "think about it. _Living essence_."

Willow thought for a moment then took in a sharp breath, looking over quickly to Buffy.

"_Living essence_," she said, looking from Buffy to Giles, "His soul! That's the only part of Angel that is a _living entity_. The virus can't kill him, he's already dead, so it's going to destroy the one thing that's living inside of him."

She smiled as she looked to Giles, who nodded in approval, before her face suddenly fell in realization and she turned to Buffy in panic.

"But, that's also why _they're_ here—the Order of St. Nicolae, isn't it? It's _serious_ this time...Angel losing his soul, I mean. They knew what would happen before we did, somehow—they had to have. Angel's soul isn't just lost in the ether somewhere like before, at the mercy of magic and waiting to be returned…" she swallowed, looking back to Giles, "it's going to be _destroyed_, isn't it? Like..._forever_. With no way of bringing Angel back if he survives the virus, only Angelus."

Giles' eyes fell, trying to avoid Buffy's stunned gaze as the Slayer turned to him, Xander coming up behind her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Giles?" Buffy asked in a choked whisper, "Is that true?"

"I'm afraid so." Giles said finally, looking up, his face falling slightly at the sight of Buffy's now tear-filled eyes, "I now believe The Order of St. Nicolae are here for that reason. If they can save Angel, I believe they will. He's worth more to them ensouled, then a raving psychopath, that is why they brought the cure, but not because of Spike's deal as I originally thought. I think Willow is right. They saw this coming somehow and Spike turning himself over is just the icing on the cake since no doubt Nicolae will want him alive-"

"Whoa! This immortal warlord guy is _still alive_?" Xander asked, then looked around the room, "He's gotta be like Yoda."

"In his country, I'm sure he is," Giles said with a sigh, returning to his seat

"So, Spike is safe for now?" Buffy asked, wiping under her eyes

"I believe so. But, we'll have to take things slow. If my assumption is correct, Aurelia Sandoravici is playing mediator and that she and Spike will soon be arriving here with the cure."

"What is it? Like a magic potion or something?" Kennedy asked

"No," Giles replied, "Something else rather…interesting."

Buffy narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean?"

Giles picked up another book from the bottom of one of the piles to his left and turned it to the correct page before laying it on top of the book already open on the table.

Willow, Kennedy, Xander and Buffy all leaned over the book again, their eyes scanning over the image before them.

"It's…" Willow said in a surprised tone, but trailed off.

Xander finished her thought as Kennedy and Buffy remained speechless

"Hey! It's a girl!" Xander cried

"A human girl?" Willow asked, looking up to Giles, "That's the cure to saving Angel's soul. A human sacrifice?"

Giles ignored Willow's comment and turned to Buffy, lifting his eye brows as if waiting for her to catch on to something.

Buffy looked at him quizzically, then back to the page

"What is it?" Kennedy asked, noticing the shared look between the Slayer and her Watcher

"Buffy knows…" Giles said, bringing his hands together in front of him on the table as he waited for Buffy.

"Oh, my God…" Buffy's head suddenly jerked up, "When I asked Spike where he was going tonight, he said he was going to see a girl. He didn't mean Aurelia Sandoravici did he? He was going to find _this_ girl all along."

"I think we should give Spike a little more credit," Giles said with a smirk, "Including me. He knew what he was doing the whole time and I _don't think_ he's really planning on turning himself over to the Sandoravicis in exchange for helping Angel. "

"So what's so special about this girl? How can _she_ cure Angel when I've tried everything?" Willow asked, genuinely intrigued, "Plus, human sacrifice? Not sure if that's the way we want to go folks."

"There will be no human sacrifice," Giles said, sitting forward in his chair, "From what I've learned, she's a very old and very powerful being. Since birth, she has lived within the order of St. Nicolae—her origins and parentage are unknown. She is revered as a shaman or a healer within many circles. She has natural sensitivities and psychic abilities, but it is said that her true power lies in her blood, which when fed to any entity or applied to any wound, miraculously renews them."

"A _human girl_?" Willow asked again, looking down to the sketching of a young girl with long dark curly hair, dressed in early twentieth century clothing, "But, she looks sweet and so normal."

"Well, she certainly is not normal and she certainly _isn't _human." Giles said, closing the book.

# # # # # # # # #

"You look…so _different_ from the last time I saw you," Spike whispered as he took a seat next to the young girl on the sofa, taking in her face with awe.

"It's been eighty years," she smiled, searching his eyes, "You look different too. The new soul…I can tell, it agrees with you."

Spike turned and looked over his shoulder to Aurelia who stood at the liquor cart across the room, pouring herself a scotch.

"Can _everyone _see that I have a soul now? Do I have a sign on my back or something?"

Aurelia laughed as she replaced the stopper on the decanter.

"No," she smirked, walking back toward them with her tumbler in hand, "Raiyah and I have just known you longer than most people."

"You mean you've seen me good _and _bad." Spike retorted

Raiyah quirked an eyebrow, "Mostly bad on my end…"

"Well, I've _changed_," Spike said, turning back and lowering his voice as he leaned into her, "I'm not that person anymore—"

"You mean 'William The Bloody', who showed up in London in 1923 when I was five, went on a killing spree through most of the south end, then murdered three of my bodyguards, and tried to kidnap me? You mean _him_?"

"I can't change the past…" Spike said, sitting back, "And I won't deny that got dangerous for awhile after…" he trailed off, looking over to Aurelia, who just adverted her gaze and took a drink, "I ran off with the wrong crowd, I let them change me and I did some things I regret—_horrible_ things—things I can never take back. But, getting my soul was _my choice_, Raiyah. And now, I get to remember who I really am—the redemption part hasn't been easy, I have to admit, but I've got to experience emotions I haven't felt in _very_ a long time and remember things that I thought I had forgotten…" he sat forward, bringing his hand to the side of her face, "like you."

Raiyah took in a deep breath as he continued, staring deep into her eyes.

"I am _so sorry_. I was never there for you the way I should have been. When I left you with the Sandoravicis, I thought it was the right decision—I thought it was _safer_ after what happened. I had to keep you away from them—as far away from them as I could—the others couldn't know about you. And then, I-I just waited too long to get you back. And when I did come back…I was a monster."

"Yes, you were," Raiyah said softly, bringing her hand to rest over his on her face, "But, I never stopped hoping that you would come back for me—albeit I could have lived without the whole kidnapping thing…"

She rolled her eyes and Spike chuckled, leaning forward and kissing her forehead

"Well, I'm here now…" Spike said, his lips still against her skin, "It took a lost soul and call to your crazy uncle to find you, but I found you."

"You seized your opportunity, that's for sure," Aurelia toasted from a nearby chair, raising her glass in the air

"Angel needed help. Buffy asked me if I could find a way to help him. I didn't tell her that I already had a cure in mind—I was just weighing my options as to whether I should risk it."

"Buffy?" Raiyah asked, pulling back curiously, "Who's Buffy? And what kind of name is _that?_"

"Brace yourself kitten," Aurelia said, bringing her scotch to her lips, "Spike, here has been running with the Vampire Slayer."

"Hey! How did you know that?" Spike asked

"Sfinte Sisoe…" Raiyah whispered in her native language, then crossed herself, taken aback, "And you haven't killed her?"

"No." Spike sighed, "Though I've Bloody well _tried_,"

"I bet he's got a thing for her," Aurelia smiled with raised eyebrows, twirling her tumbler on her knee

"Oh, please say no," Raiyah looked to Spike shaking her head, "Because, that would just be too weird after you killed the other ones."

"Can we _not_ talk about the Slayer right now?" Spike interjected quickly, nervously looking from Aurelia to Raiyah, "Please? We've got more important things to discuss—"

"Like… Angel?" Raiyah asked

Spike looked to her in mild shock

"I know about the Devok demon," Raiyah said, leaning back on the sofa and folding her arms across her chest, "Uncle Ionel filled me in. I'm sorry to hear about what's happening to him. He used to be a friend of yours, right?"

"When we were evil, _yes_…" Spike replied with little enthusiasm, "Don't have much in common anymore—"

"You sure about that?" Aurelia asked, "Because I still keep an ear to the ground my friend and my sources tell me he once dated—"

"We have _nothing_ in common," Spike stressed, giving Aurelia a stern eye until she held up one hand in surrender and took a drink with the other.

"Well, anyway, Uncle Ionel filled me in on the whole situation," Rayiah scoffed with her touch in her cheek, "As spus nemernic nu am fost—"

"Hold it, Love," Spike interrupted, touching her shoulder, "Slow down. My Romanian is a little rusty."

Raiyah sighed, flicking the gel bracelets on her right wrist, "Basically, I told the jerk I wasn't going anywhere with him until he cut me in on the know. I _hate_ going into jobs not knowing what I'm doing. It _seriously_ messes with the mojo."

"Yeah..." Spike smirked, "We can't be messing with the mojo."

"I'm getting peckish. We can talk more in the kitchen," Raiyah said finally as she stood from the sofa and moved toward the drawing room door, looking over her shoulder at Spike, "I'm thinking some cereal and A positive. We have some fresh in the fridge. Want some?"

Aurelia wrinkled her nose, "Oh, Draga mea! Again with the cereal and blood thing?"

"Why not?" Spike interjected, "Gives it texture."

"Frosted Flakes?" Aurelia asked, teasingly turning to Spike with a raised eyebrow

"No. I'm more of a Wheat-O'-Bits guy, myself" Spike smiled

Raiyah nodded enthusiastically, pointing at him, "See! _You _know what I mean! Find the right cereal and it will change your life forever… no joke…Like that new Special K fruit and yogurt cereal? Oh, my _God_! Where has _that_ been for like the last hundred years of my life?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes at Spike as he stood and began to follow Raiyah as she bounced from the room.

"My sister cannot be held responsible. I fully blame _your _genes for this outrage," she bemused


	7. Chapter 7

Spike took a seat at the breakfast bar as he watched Raiyah's upper half disappear behind the refrigerator door for a few moments, before her head re-emerged over the top of the door.

"Thirsty?" she asked, pointing into the light of the fridge, "We've got everything you could _possibly_ want in here."

"I'm good." Spike replied, folding his hands in front of him on the counter

Raiyah gave him a quizzical look as she pulled a blood bag out of the fridge and shut the door, then reached up to the top of the appliance and retrieved a box of cereal from a long lineup.

"Not drinking human blood these days…" Spike offered

Raiyah nodded as she sat the contents of her arms on the counter, then opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a red ceramic bowl

"I wouldn't either, except it sustains me better than animal blood," she replied as she opened the top of the cereal box and filled the bowl half way before grabbing the bag of blood and pulling the top open with her teeth.

"Raiyah," a gruff voice said, now entering the room, "telefon."

Spike turned around and saw the big burly Romanian with dark hair, who had so graciously greeted them at the front door with a machine gun on his shoulder, stepping around the island toward Raiyah.

Raiyah gave an exasperated sigh as she poured the contents of the blood bag over the cereal in the bowl with one hand and reached out her hand blindly with the other, not making eye contact with Ivan as he handed her the cell phone, then stepped back a few paces to the other side of the room and stood at attention with his hands at his sides.

„da?" she answered as she pressed the phone to her ear, balancing it between her shoulder and her chin as she spun around and retrieved a spoon out of the drawer.

Raiyah listened to the voice on the other end as she took the bowl of cereal into her hands and leaned back on the counter, bringing spoonfuls to her mouth.

„Știu, unchiule," she said in a calm voice, speaking to the person on the other end of the line, but rolling her eyes in Spikes direction

„Nu..." she said

Spike furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to watch her munch on her cereal and become more and more bored by the one way conversation on the cell phone.

„_Nu..._" she said again, her voice raising slightly

Finally, she set the bowl on the counter beside her and pushed off the edge.

„Da, vom acum", she said abruptly, then lifted her chin and let the cell phone fall from where it balanced on her shoulder, into her right hand as she hung up.

„Who was that delightful conversationalist?" Spike inquired

„Uncle Ionel, „ she said, tossing the phone across the room to Ivan, then waving him out of the room.

He nodded to her, then eyed Spike begrudgingly before exiting the room.

When Ivan was gone, Raiyah continued.

„He was calling to check up on me. He wanted to make sure you hadn't harmed me or tried to kidnap me. He _also_ wanted to remind me that our little reunion has a time limit with Angel about to lose his soul and all... we'll need to leave as soon as possible..." she sat down the bowl, then turned to the back door and moved toward it, reaching down and retrieving her black Chuck Taylors from where they lay on the floor mat.

„Well, Ionel is in a pissy mood," Spike said as Raiyah slid the untied shoes onto her feet

„Pissy, yes, but with justification," Aurelia interjected as she entered the room from the hallway

„Hey, whoa... are you alright?" Spike asked with concern as he immediately stood from his stool and took hold of Aurelia as she stumbled toward him, visibly pale and weakened by something

„I just got a vision," Aurelia said, looking to Spike, then across the counter to Raiyah, „Angel's getting close to losing his soul, we have to hurry."

Then she fainted.

„Alright then, enough chit-chat, let's move out," Spike said, bringing Aurelia's arm around his neck and lifting her into his arms, but not before grabbing the car keys from her front pocket and putting them between his teeth, „I"ll drive."

„Can I drive?" Raiyah asked hopefully, retrieving her half eaten cereal bowl from the counter

„Do you have a driver's license?" Spike asked, through his teeth as he turned back to her

„Well, no." Raiyah said as she rounded the corner, taking a bite of her cereal as she came face to face with Spike, „Do _you?_"

Spike cocked his head

„Fine," he said, leaning his head forward and offering her the keys between his teeth, „You drive the first leg."

„Sweet!" Raiyah said, her mouth still full of cereal as she plucked the keys from Spikes mouth, twirling them around her finger

Spike sighed as he adjusted Aurelia in his arms and followed Raiyah as she headed toward the front door.

„Be sure to grab a jacket, it's cold outside," he called up to her

Raiyah sighed as she handed her cereal bowl to Ivan, who was still guarding the front door, and turned, opening the hallway closet door reluctantly

„God, you sound like someone's, Father," she observed, rolling her eyes, as she plucked her jean jacket off of one of the hangers.

# # # # # # # #

Buffy stood in the hallway outside the her bedroom door, watching as Angel continued to sweat and writhe in pain in the darkened room, his bed surrounded by candles as Willow sat in a chair at his bedside chanting incantations over him, her spell book open on her lap.

Giles put his hand on Buffy's shoulder to comfort her, but she rolled her shoulder slightly, avoiding his touch.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

„Who could that be?" Buffy whispered, looking to Giles then moving to the end of the hallway

As she descended the hallway with her watcher on her heels, Buffy saw Anya peek through the side window, then immediately open the front door.

Buffy's heart leapt when she saw Spike pass through the threshold, a blanket draped over him.

Buffy bounded down the last step, grateful to see him in one piece and seriously considering hugging him and holding him close, but then she noticed that he was already holding something—a woman, limp and unconscious in his arms.

„Hello, all," he greeted, nodding to Anya, then Xander as he emerged from the front living room and Spike moved passed him, laying the woman down on the couch and tossing the blanket off of his shoulders onto the floor. When he had stretched his arms a little, he moved back into the hallway to meet his waiting audience.

„Glad to see you're in one piece," Buffy smiled, their eyes meeting in a silent, private reunion

„Uh...yeah," Spike said, his eyes still locked with hers, „I, well...you know..."

„I know." Buffy nodded, breathlessly, „But there was that whole werewolf thing and I was kinda worried..."

„Oh, you were?" Spike smirked

„Well, yeah, „ Buffy continued, „Tell a girl that her ex-boyfriend is being attacked by a pack of werewolves and she generally doesn't worry, but in this case—I was worried,"

„Nasty buggers, those werewolves, but Aurelia and I sorted that out," Spike said, looking over his shoulder to the woman on the couch

„Oh, _we saw_..." Xander replied, shoving his hands in his pockets

„Dear Lord," Giles interjected, stepping around Buffy and walking toward the living room and pointing to the unconscious woman on the couch, „This is Aurelia Sandoravici."

„Yeah," Spike shrugged, „What about it?"

„I—I just—I never thought...Dear Lord...A member of the Sandoravici clan, _here_..."

Giles immediately took off his glasses and started rubbing them vigorously with his shirt tail

„I guess Giles here is just overwhelmed at the possibility of having a real life immortal in the house—one he can ask questions to and do his watcher experiments on" Xander interjected, „You know, one that _isn't_ a vampire or the undead."

„She doesn't look so scary," Anya mused, coming to Xander's side and looking in the direction of the living room toward Aurelia, „She looks kind of pale actually...but I _do _like her outfit. Xander, if Giles experiments on her, don't let him ruin the outfit...I want it,"

„You didn't steal her did you?" Xander quipped, turning to Spike,"Those crazy Romanians aren't going to come for her are they? You know, after they've had their noon time snack and a little nap."

„I wouldn't worry about that," Spike offered, removing his jacket and tossing it over the banister, „ Aurelia came of her own free will. She's here to guard the girl...you know, _after_ she wakes up and all. And the Sandoravicis gave me about a thousand page rule book on what I can and cannot do, but they won't be paying us a visit anytime soon...well, unless we royally screw up, that is."

„So, where _is _girl?" Buffy asked, „The ‚cure' or whatever they call her,"

„Just parking the car," a voice came from the still open doorway

Buffy, Spike, Xander and Anya all turned in her direction at once.

„Hi," Raiyah waved with a nervous smile from the other side of the threshold.

# # # # # # #

Spike moved immediately to the door, standing to the side of the door frame, pointing to each of the individuals in the Summer's residence as he made introductions.

„Buffy, Anya, Xander... and Giles," he said, noting the watcher now entering the hallway, „This is Raiyah."

„Hello, again," Raiyah smiled, nodding to them

„Raiyah," Spike said, turning toward her, „This is...well, this is the gang."

„Hi." The Scoobies acknowledged at once

„Dear Lord..." mused Giles as he replaced his glasses and looked the young girl in the Black Sabbath t-shirt over

There was a moment's pause as everyone stared at each other before Raiyah turned her attention directly on Buffy.

„So you're Buffy Summers," she stated, „The Vampire Slayer."

„Yes, and you are the girl who's blood is going to cure Angel." Buffy quipped, folding her arms across her chest

Raiyah narrowed her eyes and smiled, turning toward Spike, „I _like her_. I can see why you didn't kill this one. She's feisty and _much prettier_ than the last slayers."

„Thanks, I guess..." Buffy smirked, shifting awkwardly

„I'm sorry, I would shake your hand," Raiyah interjected, holding her hand up and touching the invisible barrier that blocked her from crossing the threshold, „But I kind of need an invite."

„Oh, Dear Lord...' Giles said again, his tone bordering on mild excitement

„You're a _vampire_?" Buffy whispered in disbelief

„Well, that's an interesting turn of events," Xander mused, turning to Buffy, then to Raiyah, „I mean, we sort of guessed that you weren't exactly human and all on account of well...you're _abilities_—"

„Yeah, I have to admit that I thought you were going to be a demon or a celestial being of some sort," Buffy interjected, staring directly at Raiyah, „the book wasn't that clear and my Watcher here, he's British and _very cryptic_—"

„Hey!" Giles cried, clearly offended

„I mean you're _so young_..." Buffy continued, „too young to be a vampire."

„Well, I'm a special vampire." Raiyah smiled

„Indeed..." Giles said, turning his attention back to Raiyah, quickly meeting her gaze.

Raiyah smirked, returning the look as she cocked her head, „I think Watcher boy here has figured it out...What gave it away?"

„The eyes..." Giles said in a low voice, turning to Spike „Though, I don't quite believe it. I mean, I've heard rumors over the years regarding your story, but I never quite believed it until now. They are exactly the same as..."

Buffy looked to Giles curiously as he trailed off in his thoughts, „Giles?"

„And the sun...that's a dead give away," Giles smiled, his eyes still focused on Raiyah

„Like that?" Raiyah asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly proud, „Stumps people every time."

„Holy Moley!" Xander cried, suddenly, jumping back, „Giles is right! How do you do that? The whole not bursting into flames thing?"

„Genetics." Raiyah smirked

„What?" Buffy asked confused

„I'm half and half." Raiyah replied

„Half and Half describes a creamer, not a person," Anya chimed in

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Anya quizzically

„What?" Anya scoffed, shrinking back, „Why do you all always look at me like that? It was a valid statement."

Raiyah continued, „I'm Half vampire—"

„Half human," Giles finished

„How is that even possible?" Buffy asked, then turned to Giles, „_Is_ that possible?"

„Well, I hope you've been practicing safe sex all those years, Buff," Xander smirked, nudging Buffy's arm, but she shot him a harsh look and pulled away

„Oh, _my God,_ don't even go there, right now, Xander!" Buffy retorted

„Yes, _please,_ _don't_." Giles said, holding up his hand as if to shield himself

„Do they always have conversations like this?" Raiyah asked in a low voice, turning to Spike

„The meetings are worse," he replied rolling his eyes to Raiyah' s amusement

„Hey all!" Raiyah interjected, waving her hands to get everyone's attention, „While I'd love to listen to your opinions on safe sex as it relates to vampires and humans and your_ enlightening_ debate on whether I am a creamer or an entity that shouldn't exist at all, the bottom line is that I'm here to help Angel and I've got a limited time in which to do it, so let's just cut to the chase here. I am half vampire—half human. Mom was human, Dad was a vampire, okay? Hence the slow aging and the fangs and the love of A positive in a novelty mug as I sit on my front porch in the afternoon sun."

„How long have you known Spike?" Buffy asked, furrowing her eyebrows

„Um...Buffy..." Giles started, moving toward the slayer, „Maybe we should discuss this after—"

„Well, I wasn't going to mention it," Raiyah shrugged, „ but if it will move things along so that I can get through this door and to Angel, then so be it. Remember how I said my Mom was a human and my Dad was a vampire. Well," she said, jerking her thumb over toward Spike, „_He's_ the vampire."

„_What_?" Xander cried, suddenly looking around the room, frightened and confused, „_How_?"

„Well, you know how babies are made, Xander, „ Anya piped up, „Just apply that principal to the undead—"

„Okay Anya," Xander said, holding up his hands, his face turning pale as he took a step back, „You can stop right there because I just got a mental image and I threw up a little in my mouth."

Buffy's mouth just fell open


	8. Chapter 8

For the next few moments, all Buffy could do was stare blankly at Raiyah with her mouth open.

Giles was right, she did have Spike's eyes...

"Buffy…"

Giles' voice suddenly sounded through her self-imposed haze, drawing her out.

"What?" Buffy asked groggily, turning toward Giles, focusing on her Watcher's face as he nodded toward the front doorway and the young girl still standing there on the other side.

"Oh…I'm sorry," Buffy said, shaking her head, mustering a small smile as she turned back, realizing that their guest still needed an invite, "Come in, Raiyah. It is… _Raiyah, _right?"

"Yes," Raiyah replied as she stepped through the threshold, shoving her hands in her jean pockets

The small gesture completely took Buffy aback, immediately reminding her of Spike and how he always did that when _he_ was nervous…

_Focus, Buffy_… she thought to herself, as she brought her gaze back to the girl's face, but again, found Spike there, too.

Her eyes still staring off, Buffy jerked her head toward the staircase behind her.

"Angel is upstairs," she said in an absent-minded voice, "A-Anya can show you,"

"Yes," Anya chimed in happily, leaping forward and starting up the stairs, "come with me 'Spawn of Spike'."

Raiyah giggled as Spike rolled his eyes, Xander smirked, and Giles cleaned his glasses with a disapproving face, then she gave everyone a parting nod, before following Anya up the stairs.

There were a few moments of silence as Buffy's eyes turned focus intently on Spike.

Sensing that the lovebirds needed to talk, Giles immediately spoke up.

"Well," he said, still scrubbing his glasses with the bottom of his shirt as he looked awkwardly from Buffy to Spike, "I think I need a cup of coffee."

He then turned to Xander who was ogling the couple, anxiously awaiting the talk that was coming.

"Xander?" Giles encouraged, waving his hand at the oldest male member of the Scooby gang who seemed all too happy to lean against the wall and watch all the drama unfold.

"What?" Xander piped up, Giles' beckoning clearly interrupting his staring

"_Coffee_…" Giles urged, narrowing his eyebrows, "_Kitchen_…"

"But—" Xander started in protest, pointing to Buffy and Spike, but Giles quickly interrupted, grabbing him by the shirt collar and guiding him from the room.

# # # # # #

The cell phone, sitting on the passenger seat of the black SUV parked a few houses down from the Summer's house, rang and was quickly answered by Dracos Sandoravici after he checked the caller ID.

"Da?" he asked softly in his native tongue, his eyes focused on the house behind dark shades

He listened to his older brother's voice speaking Romanian on the other end of the line for a few moments, then replied in English

"I'm there now. They just went inside."

# # # # # #

Spike and Buffy stared at each other in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Buffy took a step back and looked down and then back at the living room.

"I—I need to sit down…" she said in a soft voice, her eyes focusing on the couch for a moment, but realizing that Aurelia's unconscious body still lay upon it, turned on her heel and opted to go into the dining room instead.

"Buffy_, I'm sorry_," Spike sighed as he followed close on her heels and watched her fall into one of the chairs at the dining room table, "I didn't mean for you to find out this way…about Raiyah, I mean—"

"I—I just—I'm fine. I guess I still can't quite _believe it,_ though," she whispered, looking up to Spike, meeting his gaze as he leaned on the door frame, folding his hands across his chest, "I mean… you're a _father_…" then she raised an eyebrow, "_you_… 'William the Bloody', the Scourge of Europe."

Spike took in a sharp breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling, "Uh…yeah…I guess so."

Buffy just shook her head, "I don't exactly know where to start or what to ask or even how to wrap my mind around this _whole situation._ I'm… I'm _speechless_…"

"Well, that's a first," Spike smirked

Buffy scoffed with a smile, then narrowed her eyes in thought, "And she is the 'cure'—the supernatural being we need to save Angel from losing his soul…"

"I know, right?" Spike replied, "Funny how things work out. If I told you the story of—well, you know, the story of how this all happened in the first place—you would find this situation horribly _ironic_—"

"I—I don't know if I'm quite ready yet to hear the story…" Buffy interjected, holding up her hand gently to silence him.

"Well, when you _are_…" Spike replied, pushing himself off the door frame, "or when you want to have your questions answered, you need only ask. I'll tell you everything."

Buffy swallowed nervously, then nodded

"Okay," she said in a soft voice, averting her gaze and bringing her hands down to her lap

There was another moment of silence before Spike cleared his throat then turned around in the doorway, jerking his thumb toward the stairway.

"Well, in the meantime, I think I'll just go upstairs and check on Raiyah and leave you to your thoughts," he said

But just as he crossed the threshold, Buffy's head shot up

"Spike," she said suddenly and the vampire looked back over his shoulder toward her at the sound of his name, "I guess there is one question I can think of…and you don't have to answer it, really... if you don't _want to_—"

"What's that, love?" he encouraged

"The human—Raiyah's mother—" Buffy asked, her eyes focusing softly on his, "Did you…love her?"

Spike straightened as he took a breath, a sad smile crossing his face as he nodded

"I did," he answered

# # # # # #

_**Bucharest Romania, 1898**_

_Angelus cried out as he stumbled forward on the ground near the fire pit at the center of the gypsy encampment. _

_He had tried to run, but it was pointless. _

_Once he was spotted in the woods and tried to escape, the witches had cast a spell that had him running in circles—circles that that wouldn't let him go far—that would keep leading back to the camp site until they could complete the punishment they had in store for him. _

_The vampire could hear their voices inside his head as they recited their incantations…and he grasped his chest as he felt it tighten. _

_And the pain…he hadn't felt pain like this in over a century._

_Silently, he cursed himself for being foolish enough to want to come and to want to see the human girl's burial rights. _

_Truth be told, he had always seen himself as an artist...and death was his art. _

_It was always the final brush stroke on the masterpiece for him—seeing the loved ones find the body—seeing them suffer because of what he had taken from them. _

_The destruction of his victims—the torture—was the first stroke. The funeral was always the last, finishing touch and he found that he always had to be there for it.  
_

_But, this girl—this gypsy girl—the one William had led him to—the one Angelus wanted so badly to exact his revenge on for taking advantage of his friend's weakness, the final shreds of humanity he had left…_

_How ironic it was that now she should be **his** undoing. _

_Suddenly, Angelus felt a final jolt through his body and everything went dark. _

_Moments later, when he opened his eyes and came to his senses, he found that he felt... different. _

_He knew who and what he was…and where he was…but he was stunned and numb._

_His head ached something fierce and a dull, burning sensation continued to spread throughout his body._

_When he took in a sharp breath and finally looked up, he saw a familiar face before him and he narrowed his eyes he took it in._

_But, all his mind could process was that he was a gypsy warlord and his name was Nicolae Sandoravici.  
_

_How the vampire knew this man…he, suddenly, did not know._

"_It hurts, yes?" the middle aged man with dark eyes and olive skin said, towering over the vampire, "**Good** …it will hurt more."  
"Where am I?" Angelus whispered, confused  
"You don't remember…." Nicolae said, somewhat disappointed, then continued, "Everything you have done for a hundred years…in a moment you will. You will see the face of everyone you killed—our daughter's face—they will haunt you…and you will know what true suffering is." _

"_Killed…" Angelus breathed, unsure what to think of this revelation, "I—I don't…" _

_Then suddenly, it all flashed through his mind quickly behind his open eyes, images of a century of killing... and he knew what the man had meant. _

"_No…" Angelus choked as he lowered himself to the ground, "No…"_

_# # # # # _

"No…" Angel whimpered in his sleep, half-naked under the sheets on Buffy's bed, his face beaded with sweat, "No…"

Willow narrowed her eyes sympathetically and leaned forward from where she still sat at his bedside, placing a hand gently on his arm.

Suddenly, she felt a presence nearby and turned toward the doorway just in time to see Anya enter the dark, candlelit room with the young girl from Giles' photograph at her side.

Angel seemed to sense their presence, too, because he suddenly started to awaken, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as his eyes lids opened and he tried to focus.

"Angel…" Willow said, turning her attention back to him

But, the vampire didn't look at her, his half-open gaze focused, almost immediately, on the dark haired girl now standing at the foot of his bed.

She was like a vision from his past…beautiful and perfect.

Nicolae had been right when she said that he would always see her face...that she would haunt him.

"Is—Isobel?" he whispered as the girl stepped closer through the haze of his vision

"What?" Willow asked softly quickly looking from Angel to their guest

"Isobel…" Angel mumbled, then closed his eyes and fell back into his coma

There were a few moments of silence as Willow processed what had just happened, then turned toward Anya and the girl just as the former vengeance demon spoke up.

"Well, that was a little _creepy_," she said with a raised eyebrow, then pulled her arm up to show the witch, "Goosebumps…that gave me goosebumps…see?"

"Yeah, Anya…very nice…" Willow said incredulously, then focused on the girl at Anya's side, "You must be… Isobel?"

"_Me?_" the girl replied, pulling her gaze from the vampire lying before her and turning to meet the witch, "Uh…no, but we are related. I'm Raiyah Sandoravici."

"Willow," Willow responded with a small, but confused smile as she held out her hand to the preteen and the girl took hold, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Raiyah replied, then grasped Willow's hand tighter for a moment before releasing it and Willow pulled it back with a jolt.

"Ah!" she whimpered softly at the burning sensation that still coursed through her palm, looking down to it as she pulled her hand toward her body, "What the—"

"So, you're the witch, huh?" Raiyah interjected in a casual tone

"Wait—what _was that_? And how did you know that—" Willow asked, confused, still cradling her hand

"Raiyah here, is a special kind of vampire," Anya chirped happily

"A _vampire_?" Willow asked, still shaking her head in confusion, "I thought you were an immortal human who healed people?"

Raiyah opened her mouth to speak, but Anya jumped in again.

"Oh, _yes!"_ Anya quipped with a smile, "It seems she does that too, at least from what Giles and Spike have told us, but she also seems to be some sort of vampire half-breed …" she said, looking to Willow's hand, "with some _very cool_ telepathic abilities."

Anya paused for a moment, registering the shock that was still on Willow's face before turning toward Raiyah.

"Can Spike do _that_?" she asked curiously, "You, know, that telepathic hooey?"

"I don't think so," Raiyah smiled shyly

"Too bad," Anya sighed, "That would have made sex with him kinda _interesting_…"

"Hey! _Whoa_!" Raiyah cried, holding up her hands, then pointed at herself, "_Daughter_…daughter standing right here_! God_…gross!"

"Sorry…" Anya retorted defensively "I was just being _honest._ Tell me, what _is_ appropriate to talk about around a vicious, mass murdering vampire's daughter?"

"You're Spike's d-daughter?" Willow asked, her breath hitching and her eyes widening as she looked from Raiyah to Anya, then back to Raiyah

"What? You didn't notice the eyes?" Anya scoffed, "Can't miss 'em."

"It's a _long story_…" Raiyah said quickly with a nervous smirk as she started to remove her jacket, "Let's just get down to the business at hand, shall we?"

Willow immediately shook herself out of her trance and nodded, "Uh…yeah…sure…_right._ You're here to heal Angel,"

"Yep," Raiyah replied with a sigh, handing Anya her jacket and moving past Willow, coming to the dying vampire's bedside.

"The famous Angelus…" Raiyah said softly, as she studied Angel's sleeping form below her, getting her first real glimpse at the renowned vampire her people had curse nearly two centuries before.

"You two know each other?" Willow asked curiously from behind her

"Well..._no_..." Raiyah said, her eyes still focused on the vampire as she flexed her hands and rolled her shoulders, trying to focus her healing energies and bring them to the ready, "But, where I come from, his reputation precedes him."


End file.
